Sunderland plunged into defensive injury crisis ahead of Luton semi-final clash

Sunderland are in the midst of a defensive injury crisis ahead of their play-off semi-final first leg clash with Luton this evening.

Northern Ireland international Dan Ballard has been ruled out, as has experienced centre half Danny Batth with a knee injury, while Dennis Cirkin (ankle) and Lynden Gooch are both doubtful, having gone off injured against Preston North End in the Black Cats’ 3-0 win on Monday.

Centre half Aji Alese is also unlikely to feature as well, as speaking to the Northern Echo, boss Tony Mowbray said: “I think Dan’s too far away at this moment to make these games.

"They come pretty quickly – Saturday, Tuesday – so I don’t think Dan Ballard is going to make it.

“Aji is out there with the physios, side-footing volleys and running in and out of cones, but he hasn’t kicked a ball for nine weeks.

“The team have done amazingly well and have just won away to Preston 3-0.

"I’m not sitting here thinking we desperately need to get these players back in straight away.

“They would help, of course, and it would be great to be able to put a player or two on the bench that would enable us to get them on if we needed to see a game out, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen.”

Asked about the likelihood of Cirkin and Gooch being available, Mowbray, speaking on Thursday, continued: “Neither of them have trained, but they might train tomorrow.

"If they train tomorrow and then they put their hand up after five minutes and have to come off, then they won’t be playing on Saturday.

"But if they come through the session, there’s a chance they’ll play.

“We’ll have a light training session and if they come through it, we’ll have a one-to-one chat and if we decide to go with it, then that’ll be the case.

"In all honesty, as I sit here, I don’t know if they’re going to be available or not.”

The Black Cats are also without Ross Stewart, Corry Evans, Elliot Embleton, Jewison Bennette and Niall Huggins, as they go into a clash against a side that Mowbray clearly has respect for, saying: “I think it’s going to be a tight game.

"They’re 14 unbeaten and we’ve gone nine unbeaten, five draws and four wins.

“The Stadium of Light will be bouncing.

"We’ve got to try and create an environment which is uncomfortable for Luton and sometimes coming into a big environment it can help some teams.

“We aren’t talking about a team of shrinking violets - they’re a very robust, strong, physical team.

“They finished 11 points in front of us so they’ll come with a level of confidence.

“It’s sometimes easy to have a narrative of ‘little Luton’ but there they were in the play-offs last season.

"They have the experience of the play-offs, they’ll be disappointed they didn’t get through last year and they’ll be trying to put it right this year.”

Meanwhile, Luton boss Rob Edwards knows that even with some players out, the Black Cats’ threats in the final third make them a hugely difficult opponent, adding: “I know they have got one or two injuries but what I’m sure they have got is a clean bit of health at the top of the pitch, where a lot of the top quality is and a lot of the creation comes from there as well.

"No disrespect to any other players, so they’ll still remain a big, big threat.”